I have my wife's First Generation Charter Arms Undercover in 38 Special 3' Barrel model and it's very good to excellent shape. All Original grips with the Scroll Tags & no dings at all in the grips and the bluing is all intact other than a little fading with age. No rust or pitting anywhere on this one. Serial # 250XXX range which from my estimate would be around 1967. Inside the barrel is very good and shiny. Everything functions great on this revolver.

Barrel is marked 'CHARTER ARMS CORP BRIDGEPORT CONN' on the right side and 'UNDERCOVER.38 SPL' on the left side. I hear that the First Generations are about the best made of the Charter Arms Revolvers and this one is a good example of a nice & clean Undercover model. Jct Standard Building Contract With Quantities 2011. Very few wear marks other than a little wear where the wheel has cycled.

There is no public listing of serial number/ year ranges for Charter Arms, but if you call Charter at 203-922-1652, give them your serial number, they can tell you.

This gun has been fired very little. The pictures should give a good example of the condition. I would like some opinions on value, date of manufacture & any other information the experts here may have on this gun, Thanks a lot for looking and here are a dozen pics to evaluate. Click to expand.Yeah, that's what I have heard. And we are happy to have this one. My wife has had it since the 70's and said she has fired it and really likes it. She hasn't fired it much and I can tell that by the looks of the bore, it is in really nice shape.

I haven't fired it yet but I sure like the looks of it and it has a pretty good feel to it. We are wanting to get a value on it as we are adding it to our insurance so if anyone out there can give us a value and any other information including date of manufacture I would appreciate it very much.

Jim Hauff, you there?, or anyone else with some knowledge on this please give me some input on this piece!!! Much appreciated. Click to expand.Thanks StoneChimney, I was thinking the value would be around what you stated but would it being a 3' barrel model maybe bring it up $50 or so? These are a little harder to find I have found and thought maybe it may increase value some.

And I also would like to know if this pistol was made in 1967 like I am thinking. I know that it's a First Generation but not sure if I have the date of manufacture correct, I cant seem to find anything corresponding to a date on it and I have looked everywhere online that I can think of. Again, Serial # is 2508XX range.

And would this one be considered one of the better made Charter Arms Revolvers? Hope I am not asking too much here but I am really curious, any more added opinions and info is appreciated, Thank You. USNative, I've been collecting and researching the 1st Generation CHARTER ARMS, INC. Revolvers for the past 7 years.

My data base indicates your UNDERCOVER was made in the Spring of 1973. I've purchased 26 CAs of different models during those years and have been keeping tabs on the RETAIL pricing. Stone Chimney has give you, what I feel, is the correct full RETAIL value, maybe 10 to 20 bucks higher on a good day in the right place. The 3' barrel UCs are much more scarce than the 2' pieces and do command a bit more in price.

Here's a copy of my current research (rough) notes based upon around 2000 data points. IF anyone has a 1st or 2nd (CHARCO) revolver, I would appreciate hearing from you with serial number, model and barrel length and any documentation of date of purchase, etc. To help fill in my research. I intend to rewrite the Charter Arms, Inc. Section for the 'BLUE BOOK', hopefully next year, but need much more data. The very first Charter Arms Corporation production began in 1965 in BRIDGEPORT CONN - earliest pieces - mostly Undercover model will have either NO address on the right side of the barrel or will have BRIDGEPORT CONN Around 1974, address was changed to STRATFORD CONN - all pieces made after mid 1974 will be marked with that address on the right side of the barrel and all will have CHARTER ARMS CORP. As the first line.

Sometime in 1991, Charter Arms Corp. Ceased operations. This was the end of the FIRST GENERATION.

Around mid 1991 (may be as early as 1988????), the company was re-organized under new leadership and became known as Charter Arms Company - CHARCO, and was located in ANSONIA CONN. All second generation pieces will be marked on the right side of the barrel with that name and address in two lines. This is the SECOND generation and apparently the period which caused the most damage to the Charter name and reputation. In 2000, the company was again reorganized as CHARTER 2000 and relocated to SHELTON CONN. All pieces made during this THIRD generation will be marked with the SHELTON address. Early production of this generation seems to have been spotty and reputation still lagged. About a year and a half ago, the company re-reorganized under the direction of MKS Marketing and seems now to be if not flourishing at least it is progressing in quality and market share.